Urban Semiotics

Город представляет собой сложный социально-исторический феномен, одним из ключевых аспектов которого является его статус культурного текста. Город – одна из форм фиксации и трансляции сообщений, значимых для локальной культурной идентичности. Сфера городского означающего образована системой артефактов, оформляющих и структурирующих среду конкретного города. Для того чтобы воспринимать не только эти формы, но и означенные их посредством содержания, значения и смыслы, необходимо располагать соответствующими кодами. Активация культурного кода обеспечивает актуализацию смысла, зашифрованного в коннотативном слое городского текста. При этом, с одной стороны, знаком смысла может быть (или не быть) всё что угодно и, с другой стороны, кодом в контексте шифровки / дешифровки сообщения может выступить любой культурный феномен. «Код» (как и «знак») – понятие модальное. Код не есть нечто наличествующее само-по-себе: нечто есть код лишь в ситуации фиксации / трансляции информации (сообщения), то есть в событии коммуникации. Коммуникация есть modus conditionalis кода: нечто действует как код, когда коммуникативный контекст события переводит это нечто в семиотико-прагматический регистр. В свою очередь, коммуникативные контексты задаются (но не предписываются) коллективным опытом горожан, сознательно поддерживающих свою культурную идентичность. Восприятие городского артефакта (ансамбля) в семиотическом ракурсе переводит режим восприятия / узнавания в режим чтения, а включение в этот режим соответствующих культурных кодов (наряду с лингвистическими, эстетическими, профессиональными и т. д.) обеспечивает реципиенту доступ к фундаментальному уровню знака / текста – к его смыслу, всегда зашифрованному в подтексте.
The city is a complex socio-historical phenomenon, one of the key aspects of which is its status as a cultural text. The city is one of the forms of recording and transmitting messages that are significant for local cultural identity. The sphere of the urban signifier is formed by a system of artifacts that designate and structure the environment of a specific city. In order to perceive not only these forms, but also the contents, meanings and senses expressed through these forms, it is necessary to have the appropriate codes. Activation of the cultural code ensures the actualization of the sense encrypted in the connotative layer of the urban text. At the same time, on the one hand, the sign of sense can be (or not be) anything and, on the other hand, any cultural phenomenon can act as a code in the context of encryption / decryption of the message. ‘Code’ (like ‘sign’) is a modal concept. Code is not something that exists in itself: something is a code only in the situation of fixation / transmission of information (message), that is, in a communication event. Communication is the modus conditionalis of a code: something acts as a code when the communicative context of an event translates this something into a semiotic-pragmatic register. In turn, communicative contexts are set (but not prescribed) by the collective experience of city dwellers who consciously maintain their cultural identity. The perception of an urban artifact (ensemble) in a semiotic perspective transfers the perception / recognition mode to the reading mode, and the inclusion of the corresponding cultural codes in this mode (along with linguistic, aesthetic, professional, etc.) provides the recipient with access to the fundamental level of the sign / text – its sense, always encrypted in the subtext.

This essay examines the evolution of language as a tool for constructing reality and a reflection of social shifts, employing an interdisciplinary comparison between J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendarium and the Star Wars universe. By analyzing Middle-earth, the author explores the ontology of words and the unbreakable bond between linguistic creation and cultural identity, illustrating how semantic degradation can facilitate social control. Simultaneously, the study of Star Wars shifts the focus toward communicative pragmatism and technological mediation within multicultural, hyper-connected environments. In conclusion, the paper reflects on future challenges, such as neural translation and emerging digital languages, emphasizing the need to preserve the ethical depth and lived experience of communication beyond mere technical efficiency.

The urban space is teeming with faces, shaping the city's identity and experience. From the biological faces of its inhabitants to symbolic representations in art, monuments and media, faces play a multifaceted role in urban life. This paper explores the diverse manifestations of faces in urban spaces, examining their cultural, social and political significance, highlighting the need for a deeper understanding of the role of faces in shaping urban environments. In doing so, the paper introduces a typology of the facial presence within the urban space, including biological faces, urban inscriptions, practices and digital assemblages. By delineating these categories, the study aims to provide a framework for future research to explore the meanings and interpretations of faces in urban contexts.

Based on archival materials and Juri Lotman’s correspondence with publishers and colleagues, this article reconstructs the editorial history of his Analysis of the Poetic Text (1972) and examines how ideological constraints influenced the book’s final form. The selection of poems for analysis emerged as a central issue in the author’s negotiations with the Leningrad branch of the Prosveshchenie publishing house: editors and reviewers urged the inclusion of poets from the nineteenth-century Romantic and Realist canon and pressed for the reduction or removal of twentiethcentury Modernist authors, most notably Marina Tsvetaeva and Boris Pasternak. These interventions affected not only the corpus of examples but also the logic of Lotman’s argument, which was oriented toward demonstrating the methods and scope of immanent analysis rather than offering representative coverage of all periods of Russian literary history. The article also introduces Lotman’s previously unpublished chapter on Tsvetaeva’s poem “Ty, menja ljubivshij fal’sh’ju...” (“You, who loved me with the falseness...”). Read in the context of Lotman’s theoretical vocabulary and his readings of other poets in Analysis of the Poetic Text, this chapter offers a particularly clear illustration of his structuralist method.

This chapter explores the transformation of Italian food and beverage culture from tradition to modernity through a cultural and historical perspective. It examines the evolution of Italian gastronomy from Ancient Rome to the contemporary era, emphasizing the influence of regional diversity, globalization, and modern culinary movements. The study analyzes key components of Italian food culture, including cuisine, wine traditions, and coffee heritage, using literature review and document analysis methods. Findings indicate that Italian gastronomy has preserved its global prominence by successfully balancing tradition with innovation and sustainability. By integrating historical continuity with modern gastronomic practices, the chapter contributes to interdisciplinary discussions in food culture and gastronomy studies and provides a cultural framework for understanding the global impact of Italian culinary heritage.

Il presente studio propone una ricostruzione analitico-deduttiva di un rebus pittogrammato attribuito a Leonardo da Vinci (Codice Windsor), affrontato come dispositivo visivo strutturato e processuale. Attraverso una lettura rigorosamente vincolata ai dati grafici osservabili, alla sequenza dei segni e alle pratiche scrittorie rinascimentali, l’analisi consente di superare l’ambiguità interpretativa che ha finora caratterizzato il foglio e di giungere a una risoluzione coerente del suo funzionamento semantico. Il rebus viene così interpretato non come enigma irrisolto o simbolo aperto, ma come costruzione concettuale compiuta, nella quale la dinamica della tentazione, della caduta e dell’attraversamento è articolata secondo una logica strutturale pienamente riconducibile al pensiero di Leonardo.

Eddington, Ari Aster's latest film, helps to raise some fundamental points about the state of culture wars and the mode of existence of ideologies, which all too easily acquire a dangerous independence from the concrete people who put them into practice and who are no longer able to navigate politics except through a series of “categorical errors,” the devastating effects of which the film shows.

Among the sceptics who have considered The Tale of Igor’s Campaign an 18th-century forgery, three scholars provided the most scientifically grounded hypotheses. The first was the French Slavist André Mazon, whose arguments were thoroughly refuted by Roman Jakobson in 1948. According to another prominent twentieth-century linguist, Andrei Zalizniak, Jakobson had ‘scientifically demolished’ Mazon’s claims. Zalizniak himself primarily targeted the American historian Edward Keenan in his seminal linguistic study (2004), which convincingly demonstrated the authenticity of The Tale of Igor’s Campaign. Zalizniak also discussed the hypothesis of the third sceptic, whose active period came between Mazon and Keenan—the Soviet medieval historian Aleksandr Zimin. While Zalizniak expressed unconcealed irritation towards Keenan’s hypotheses (although refuting them scientifically rather than dismissively), each time he approached Zimin’s arguments, he felt obliged to make a reservation: although Zimin’s linguistic arguments were amateurish, his courageous attempt to challenge ‘the official orthodoxy and the sacred cow status assigned in the USSR to The Tale of Igor’s Campaign’ deserves respect. Importantly, Zimin and his theory had both an opponent and proponent in a single scholar—Juri Lotman. Lotman opposed the persuasiveness of Zimin’s hypothesis yet supported him in the context of numerous sociological issues in Soviet academia during the 1960s. This article reconstructs the relationship between Lotman and Zimin based on their correspondence (1963–1971), preserved in their archives and virtually unknown to the wider scholarly community. In conclusion, the article offers an explanation as to why Lotman—who in the early 1960s sought solutions to methodological crises through interdisciplinary collaborations—ultimately chose a circle of young Moscow linguists over the historian Zimin. This decision resulted in the establishment of the Tartu-Moscow School of Semiotics.

Il saggio ritorna sul tema dell’invenzione della tradizione partendo dalla prospettiva della semiotica delle culture. Lo fa in due tappe. Nella prima analizza velocemente The Invention of Tradition, in particolare l’introduzione e la chiusa di Eric Hobsbawm, per poi mettere in parallelo questo metodo di lavoro con quanto Jurij Lotman e Boris Uspenskij hanno elaborato in materia di invenzione della memoria a partire dal caso della cultura russa. La seconda tappa, facendo intervenire altre elaborazioni fondamentali sul tema, offre in forma di Tesi – per esigenza di sintesi – delle indicazioni per transitare dal conflitto divenuto stantio sull’invenzione o meno delle tradizioni alla comprensione del continuo lavoro semiopolitico di traduzione di identificazioni storiche, in cui siamo tutti necessariamente presi. /// The essay returns to the theme of the invention of tradition from the perspective of the semiotics of cultures. It does so in two stages. In the first stage, it calls for an overall assessment of The Invention of Tradition, focusing particularly on the introduction and conclusion by Eric Hobsbawm. Then, it draws a parallel between this approach and what Jurij Lotman and Boris Uspenskij have developed regarding the invention of memory, starting from the case of Russian culture. The second stage, incorporating other fundamental contributions on the subject, offers, in the form of Theses, indications for moving beyond the stale conflict over whether traditions are invented or not: the goal is to achieve a better understanding of the continuous semiopolitical work of translating historical identifications, in which we are all necessarily involved.

This thesis examines architecture as a system of semiotics, focusing on processes of sign production and architectural semiosis. Drawing on the symbolic anthropology of Clifford Geertz and the structuralist thought of Claude Lévi-Strauss, it explores how individuals and architectural meaning are shaped through symbols. The research then investigates analogies between architecture and natural language, situating the emergence of architectural semiotics within the post-war intellectual context. Particular emphasis is placed on Umberto Eco’s analytical tradition, through which the architectural sign and its modes of interpretation are defined. The study further explores the concept of the "choreme" as the minimum unit of architectural meaning. Finally, it extends the analysis to architectural codes and the city, integrating urbanism into a broader semiotic understanding of architecture.

The thesis was conducted as part of the Architectural Engineering Diploma at Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, 2020 under the supervision of  Lia Yoka.

La mia ricerca non si limita a decifrare lettere; si fonda sulla natura stessa dell'oggetto di studio. Menziono la continuità di un crittogramma perché la mia analisi opera su due livelli che si convalidano a vicenda: 1. Livello Fisico: Conferma della Base (Evidenza 3D) Evidenziando l'"effetto 3D" sulla Sindone (in particolare sulla schiena dorsale), confermo che l'immagine possiede una correlazione tra intensità e distanza impossibile da replicare artisticamente nell'epoca medievale. • Implicazione: Questo stabilisce che il telo è un artefatto genuinamente unico e non una semplice falsificazione pittorica. Se la base è autentica e straordinaria, le scritture presenti su di essa meritano un'attenzione altrettanto rigorosa e l'ipotesi di un messaggio intenzionale (un crittogramma) diventa plausibile.

To what extent do foreign actors impact local communities? Specifically, how do cultural translations between two fundamentally opposed worlds-the Yanomami universe and the U.S. Western universe-manifest and reveal different regimes of meaning? This article analyzes cultural translation as a meaning-making process, highlighting interlocutors' efforts to establish a mutually intelligible and satisfactory communicative bridge. Methodologically, the author triangulates Lotman's semiosphere boundaries with Landowski's interaction regimes, mapping: (1) asymmetric programming; (2) adjustment via embodied practices; (3) indigenous critiques. Texts were coded for: (a) lexical gaps; (b) affective semiosis; (c) power markers. The findings reveal how translation enacts Asad's 'epistemological violence' when Western categories overwrite indigenous lifeworlds. However, when translation is approached as a dynamic act of meaning production-rooted in affectivity and guided by the semiotic framework of adjustment-it offers new possibilities for engaging with otherness in more equitable and meaningful ways.

Contemporary urban writing, when it is not advertising or authorized art, remains victim of tenacious biases, linked to the myth that a civil city is above all a policed and punitive environment. This culturally-rooted prejudice makes difficult to discern people’s primordial urge to communicate on walls. Even today, it is hard to understand that the « rustle of language » (Barthes) created by the graffiti is a living testimony of the social life, and an effective means for testing people’s feelings and mental health.

A series of snapshots of graffiti in Venice, taken by Andrea Merola, a photographer and journalist with ANSA (the Italian National Associated Press Agency), shows this unnoticed narrative. We will examine a corpus of these photos by highlighting the rhetorical force and distinguishing political acts, artistic acts and acts of soiling. The analysis will be useful for testing the « symptoms of the aesthetics » of Nelson Goodman’s theory.

This photo-documentary project captures unofficial signs posted on the streets of central Brooklyn, New York to explore how community members engage with each other during a recent period of intensifying gentrification. The posters promote neighbourhood quality of life improvement campaigns, civic engagement, middle-class amenities, eclectic consumption experiences, private child development services, and social responsibility for supporting populations vulnerable to displacement. These flyers reflect the efforts of local people, organisations, and businesses to forge neighbourhood ties, foster collective action, and include incumbents in the changing community, while maintaining the area’s upscaling trajectory. The photographs show not only that gentrification is occurring, but also how people interact, build community, transform their neighbourhood, and respond to change through place-based, mediated communicative engagement during gentrification and super-gentrification.

This presentation aims to investigate how varying ideological frameworks can shape poetic translation, influencing not only the selection of authors and texts but also the specific translational strategies employed. Vladimir Mayakovsky’s Italian reception offers a particularly compelling case, as ideological stances have alternately hindered and promoted his poetry over time.
We intend to trace Mayakovsky’s trajectory in Italy, beginning with the interwar period, when anti-Soviet sentiments impeded translation efforts, and moving to the post-World War II era, when Communist-leaning translators offered an ideologically grounded view of his work. A pivotal shift came with poet-translator Angelo Maria Ripellino, who was among the first to approach Mayakovsky’s work from a purely literary standpoint, detached from political considerations. We then turn to poets Nelo Risi and Franco Matacotta, who, despite their affiliation with the Communist party, chose to translate The Backbone Flute, a work largely neglected by ideologically driven readers. Finally, the study reflects on Mayakovsky’s reception among Italian neo-avant-garde poets in the Sixties and goes on to conclude with a discussion of Paola Ferretti’s recent translation, which foregrounds Mayakovsky’s love poetry while sidestepping prior ideological associations.
Methodologically, our study combines close reading—assessing metrical, lexical, and syntactical choices, as well as text selection—with a broader cultural-historical survey of Mayakovsky’s Italian reception. This “bifocal” approach aims to reveal how ideological stances not only shaped Mayakovsky’s presence in Italy but also dictated the modes of translation, prompting translators to highlight different facets of his texts. Ultimately, this study also serves to assess the influence a poet of Mayakovsky’s stature has exerted on the Italian literary polysystem, providing insights into his lasting impact on Italian poetry across different generations.

Spatial Interventions is a series of innovative books which communicate and promote research associated with spatial thinking, spatial analysis and interventions in shaping and managing space. The series includes research and debates around particular types of spaces (public spaces, market places, nature reserves, etc.); qualities of space (spatial justice, productivity, conservation, etc.); modes or techniques of interventions (plans, site planning, enforcement regimes, etc.); normative concepts which may guide and shape interventions (diversity, professionalism, complexity, etc.) and reflections on professional and personal knowledge, skills and attitudes of spatial professions and professionals. These books offer a visionary, and sometimes contested, view on aspects of space or spatial interventions by exploring the sub-areas of the subject in question and the significant schools of thought within it.

1. Una moda, e qui la intendiamo come uno spirito del tempo catturato da una estetica, è fedele all’occhio del pubblico, ma questa fedeltà non è riproduzione a meno che, come forse possiamo ipotizzare, un pubblico non sia effettivamente scomparso. La dimensione del congegno di cui qui vorrei parlare - scomparsa del pubblico dunque conformismo nella moda -  esiste ed è l'effetto del rapporto del potere che destituisce le diversità con lo strutturalismo delle estetiche contemporanee apparentemente rivoluzionarie ma ancorate a una sorta di linguaggio ricorsivo. La moda contemporanea ha una forte tendenza alla logica, lo sforzo teoretico sotteso alla moda all’epoca della scomparsa dei pubblici è trasformare i nostri patemi in matemi, cioè concetti trasmissibili tramite colori fluo e sneakers colorate. Tutti uguali, infinitamente ripetibili, non possiamo essere visti più da nessuno. Al tempo stesso l'originalità liberatoria degli slogan delle mode di oggi – un sovversivo monito al rilancio dell’apparire come esperienza di libertà – è aver inserito in questo sistema la dimensione irriducibile della soggettività dell'uno per uno. Mai la generalizzazione, ecco i pezzi irripetibili. La moda entro il circuito della scomparsa dei pubblici rovescia l’idea della divisa con una sorta di anti-divisa. Eppure, ripeto, intorno a noi l’esercito dell’uguaglianza si muove ordinato. Pur sapendo che tutto il congegno che stiamo cercando di costruire non sarà mai sufficiente a dire il mistero dell’esistenza, sicuramente l’essere vestiti e non nudi pone alcune domande strutturali rispetto all’idea di sguardo dell’altro con cui dobbiamo confrontarci. Ma quando incontriamo un abito che descrive un’epoca bisogna dimenticare gli altri. Mai la comparazione. È anche un antidoto contro i rischi di una mistica della moda, un’impossibilità di trattarla come stiamo facendo adesso come corollario di una filosofia teoretica.

Water scarcity is an escalating concern in Delhi, particularly in semi-urban regions where rapid urbanization has outpaced infrastructure development. This study examines public behaviour toward water conservation in the semi-urban areas of Southwest Delhi, a region experiencing significant sociospatial transition. The objective is to understand the level of awareness, types of conservation practices adopted, and the key barriers affecting sustainable water use at the household level. Using a mixedmethods approach, the research involved household surveys, field observations, and key informant interviews across selected semi-urban localities such as Najafgarh, Jharoda Kalan, and the fringe sectors of Dwarka. The study found that while general awareness about water scarcity is high, actual adoption of conservation practices-such as rainwater harvesting, greywater reuse, and timely leak repairs-is limited. The primary barriers include lack of technical knowledge, financial constraints, and inadequate institutional support. Furthermore, spatial variables like access to piped water supply, dependence on groundwater, and housing type significantly influence behavioural patterns. Water scarcity is a growing challenge in Delhi, driven by declining groundwater levels, over-extraction, and inefficient supply systems. In semi-urban zones of the Southwest District-transitioning from rural to urban-the role of public behaviour in conserving water becomes critical. This paper examines how residents in semi-urban localities of Southwest Delhi perceive water scarcity, adopt conservation practices (rainwater harvesting, reuse, reduced consumption), and respond to institutional incentives or constraints. Using a mixed-methods approach-household surveys (~300 respondents), key informant interviews, behavioural observation, and spatial mapping-the study identifies patterns of conservation behaviour, the influencing factors (awareness, infrastructure, social norms), and barriers (cost, access, infrastructure deficits). The findings suggest that while awareness is moderate, adoption is low because of infrastructural, financial, and institutional constraints. The research recommends strengthening local infrastructure (stormwater recharge, decentralized systems), behaviour-change campaigns anchored in community norms, subsidies for household conservation systems, and integrating water conservation into local planning. This study contributes to understanding how geography and social context influence water conservation behaviour in Delhi's peri-urban zones.

Il credere costituisce una forza primordiale che organizza l'esperienza e i sistemi simbolici. Come l'energia oscura cosmologica, esso sostiene l'espansione della semiosfera. Questo fenomeno, se analizzato in profondità, rivela come il credere non sia soltanto un atto individuale, ma un'energia sociale e culturale che opera in modo simile a un campo fisico invisibile. Le dinamiche del credere si intrecciano con i meccanismi della semiosi, creando una vera e propria meccanica razionale del senso. Così, ogni atto di fiducia, di persuasione palese o di persuasione occulta diventa un vettore di propagazione simbolica. Questo ci invita a concepire la semiosfera come una struttura tensoriale complessa, dove la tensione e la curvatura semantica sono il risultato delle forze invisibili del credere.

Through a semiotic perspective, this article aims to analyze urban space as a textual form subject to processes of rewriting and translation by its inhabitants. Focusing on urban playful rewriting and observing children's play as a distinctive manifestation, the analysis seeks to highlight socio-pedagogical challenges associated with the growing residential density in metropolises, making urban spaces less accommodating for children's play. It also reflects on the ludicization of the adult world and those processes termed gamification, through which it is hoped that children can reestablish a connection with the city, which seems to be questioned in contemporary times.

Focusing on the aftermath of the abduction, rape and killing of an 8-year-old girl in Vitória, the paper argues that the violent event has left various traces that index a necropolitical power formation oriented towards hegemonic political and economic actors. The traces range from physical marks of violence to indications of obfuscation and manifestations of support for the aggressors. Such support was expressed, for example, by the city council's vote to retain a street name that honours the family of one of the alleged perpetrators. To analyse necropolitics through such traces, we draw on Mitchell Dean's discussion of the "signature of power" alongside works on feminicide, counter-forensics and contested toponymy. Thus reading necropolitics through its signature, we argue, sheds light on its specific context of formation and allows for scrutinizing the specific strategies and material elements through which necropolitics unfolds its deadly effects. The city waits and aches. The little grasses Crack through stone, and they are green with life.

Se la modernità è stata quel processo di desacralizzazione della realtà che ha consentito all’uomo di pensarsi come il facitore delle proprie sorti e quindi di progettare se stesso e l’ambiente circostante in dipendenza della propria azione, di posizionarsi al centro del palcoscenico del mondo quale attore protagonista, non di meno tale processo ha consegnato allo stesso uomo un destino non scritto, una sorte non segnata: un universo di incertezze entro il quale lo stesso personale percorso di definizione della propria identità e di istituzione della propria soggettività si collocavano. Si davano in un orizzonte ultimo di indeterminatezza con cui ci si è sempre dovuti confrontare. Il problema del fondamento, detto altrimenti, si è sempre declinato – quale problema cardine della modernità – anche, e forse soprattutto, in riferimento al problema del soggetto, della soggettività umana e della sua definizione.
Ecco perché l’incerto sé a cui allude il titolo di questa raccolta di saggi già apparsi su rivista e qui riuniti: è l’incertezza che soggiace come problema ineludibile, nella modernità e non solo, al tentativo di emergenza della soggettività, ai processi ed alle strategie fondatrici di una qualche identità. I testi che seguono vogliono quindi presentarsi come dei carotaggi attorno ad alcune delle strategie – appunto – che, nella modernità, si è cercato di mettere in gioco nel difficile tentativo di istituzione dell’individuo, della sua identità e della sua soggettività. Strategie differenti, contrapposte spesso, a testimonianza – nuovamente – del contesto di irresolutezza entro cui il processo di soggettivazione è collocato. I saggi coprono, infatti, periodi diversi, snodi differenti delle tappe che hanno temporalmente costituito la modernità stessa: dal clima contro riformistico degli Esercizi spirituali di Loyola, all’Illuminismo radicale del pensiero di Sade; dagli esiti di un certo Romanticismo e di quell’ideale della Bildung di cui era portatore, come nei Promessi sposi manzoniani, all’avvento delle spinte dissolutrici della stessa modernità, nella riflessione di inizio Novecento caratterizzante il Siddhartha di Hermann Hesse. Prove, tentativi, piuttosto che risposte assolute, comunque, anche quando ne hanno storicamente assunto le vesti, o – più semplicemente, ai nostri occhi post-moderni – hanno avuto la pretesa di assumerle.

Macao’s gambling hub, Cotai, is renowned for its striking coexistence of grand casinos, replicating European landmarks and evoking futuristic panoramas. This convergence of elements from various cultures, predominantly European, not only attests to Macao’s cosmopolitan character but also encapsulates the essence of Macao as a translational city. This study delves into Cotai’s translational landscape, focusing on the use of English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Portuguese, and other languages or semiotics. It discerns that the language pair of Simplified Chinese and English, rather than Traditional Chinese and Portuguese (Macao’s two official languages used in other parts of Macao), dominates in Cotai. This paper elucidates the empirical findings, scrutinising the
geopolitical and socioeconomic forces underpinning Cotai’s translational landscapes through a self-established theoretical framework. It foregrounds the pivotal role of translation in shaping the urban landscape, arguing that an expanded view of translation, encompassing multimodal dimensions, introduces a novel paradigm for comprehending language dynamics and cross-cultural negotiations in urban settings. Emphasising the emancipatory and interdisciplinary nature of translation, the paper suggests its potential to enhance research on urban language practices.

Nel 1555, mentre l'Europa si divideva tra cattolici e protestanti con la Pace di Augusta, un anonimo incisore tedesco creava una delle più provocatorie satire anti-cattoliche del secolo: una monaca che negozia con un gatto per ottenere un fallo. Questa scena blasfema, incisa su una piccola lastra di rame e oggi conservata al Rijksmuseum di Amsterdam (RP-P-OB-78.861), rappresenta un esempio paradigmatico della produzione grafica tedesca del pieno Cinquecento. Le dimensioni compatte e la raffinata tecnica dell'incisione su rame ne indicano chiaramente la destinazione commerciale per la circolazione popolare, inserendosi nel fiorente mercato delle stampe satiriche che caratterizzò l'Europa della Riforma. La qualità tecnica dell'esecuzione e la complessità simbolica dell'iconografia suggeriscono un autore professionista, probabilmente inserito nelle reti commerciali che collegavano i centri di produzione grafica tedeschi ai mercati protestanti europei.

As electric vehicle (EV) adoption accelerates across India, particularly in semi-urban regions, there is an urgent need for decentralized, sustainable charging infrastructure. This study presents the design and performance evaluation of a hybrid solar photovoltaic (PV) charging station intended to support up to 300 light motor vehicles (LMVs) monthly in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. Utilizing the System Advisor Model (SAM), the system's technical, economic, and environmental performance was assessed. Results indicate an annual net AC output of 49,324 kWh, a capacity factor of 22.1%, and a performance ratio of 0.78. The project demonstrates a payback period of 6.8 years and annual CO 2 avoidance of 40.4 metric tons. These findings validate the feasibility of deploying scalable hybrid solar charging infrastructure in emerging urban centers. I.

In this piece, we approach graffiti from the perspective of the 'circuits of valorization' that qualify as well as quantify it. We understand a valorization circuit as an assemblage of cultural, legal, economic and geographic dynamics surrounding a given artefact, which eventually confer a certain 'value' to it. Here, we look at examples of global graffiti, with attention to how cities and administrations juggle with its controversial valorization, implementing various policies to rein it in, but also to exploit it. Typically, graffiti appears and lives in ill-defined, metamorphic urban spaces: as an urban artefact, graffiti occupies loose, interstitial places and rhymes with an aesthetic of defacement and infestation. The 'in place/out of place' dialectic is thus central for claims to legitimacy, legality, and, ultimately, also the 'quality' of graffiti. Through the lens of radical legal pluralism, we argue that graffiti can insert a distinctive dynamism into the lawscape, rather than be a sheer inert object of urban policies. Graffiti itself actively participates, not simply in populating the lawscape, but in its actual crafting.

_Il volto infinito_ offers a multifaceted investigation into the cultural, philosophical, and technological dimensions of the face in contemporary digital societies. The volume, rooted in the ERC-funded FACETS project, brings together interdisciplinary perspectives to interrogate the evolving aesthetics, ethics, and semiotics of the visage in an era marked by the pervasive mediation of artificial intelligence, virtual environments, and posthuman imaginaries. From the ritual repetition that unveils deeper layers of meaning, to the ethical quandaries surrounding the virtual face and its infinite mutations, the contributions reflect on the tensions between materiality and immateriality, presence and simulation, identity and its dissolution. The face emerges not merely as a biological or representational entity but as a site where cultural, technological, and ethical dynamics intersect—spanning from the human to the posthuman, from the analogue to the digital. This collection illuminates how the face persists as a central node in the construction of meaning, even as its contours blur within the endless recombinations of contemporary media ecologies.

In this paper I discuss the problematic presence of time in the spatial metalanguage of cultural and social research. General use of everyday spatial metaphors, as well as attempts to formalise spatial models, explicate the role of space as a modelling system. At the same time, the aspect of temporality is positioned into an ambiguous role as being partly subordinated and rejected from these descriptive models with universalistic intentions. The problematic presence of time and temporality in the spatial metalanguage of cultural and social research is here discussed in the context of three theoretical models of space: Pitirim A. Sorokin's sociocultural space, Pierre Bourdieu's social space, and Juri Lotman's cultural space. Relating to the history of theory through these three models, the discussion suggests a critical account on the ways temporality is presented in the spatial metalanguage. Nevertheless, in combination, these models suggest a possibility to involve multiple socioculturally specific accounts on time into coherent spatial models through the recognition of reflective activity of agents.

Local businesses in gentrifying areas face opportunities due to the changing pattern of consumers' demographic characteristics and increased purchasing power. At the same time, upgrading infrastructure leads to better connectivity and logistics, resulting in convenience for the online shopping experience. Often, this condition increases pressure for businesses to stay in the market. To explore threats and opportunities for businesses due to online shopping in gentrifying areas, we briefly look at characteristics of online users that local businesses can utilise to respond. This conceptual note provides insight into how gentrification is still required to increase the population's quality of life. At the same time, businesses should increase consumer experience in the online market through innovation, product diversification, and global orientation. Further investigation should be expanded by decomposition across classes, for example, business size, market size, and knowledge and technological levels, as the impact might be experienced differently across classes.

L'idea di Exercices d'observation (Premier Parallèle) di Nicolas Nova è folgorante: scrivere un piccolo manuale di esercizi d'osservazione. La natura felicemente indisciplinata di questo designer-antropologo emerge dalle sue molteplici ispirazioni: scienze sociali (antropologia, etnografia, sociologia), scienze naturali (botanica, zoologia, geologia, ecologia e quella "scienza dei paesaggi" che è la geomorfologia), letteratura e arti visive, design incluso. I suoi esercizi vogliono risvegliare una modalità di vedere il mondo oggi poco coltivata. L'osservazione è una capacità cognitiva, un savoir faire che si apprende e si può esercitare senza grandi sforzi e qualità se non una disposizione d'animo e, naturalmente, un pizzico di pazienza. Moltiplicando i punti di vista, di scala e di posture, l'osservazione, screditata in quanto pratica passiva o noiosa, diventa così una forma di creazione di cui si giovano artisti e scrittori, storici e critici d'arte, studiosi di scienze sociali e naturali. La finalità? Interpellare la vita delle cose e degli esseri. Prima di soffermarmi sulle motivazioni dell'autore, seleziono e riformulo di seguito sette esercizi con varianti.

Rivista di arti, media, culture visuali direttore Vincenzo Trione Zona Critica è una rivista semestrale dedicata alle arti, ai media e alle culture visuali. Edita da il Mulino in formato cartaceo, ospita contributi di natura scientifica, mettendo in dialogo studiosi di arte, di cinema e di estetica con intellettuali, scrittori, filosofi e artisti intorno ad alcuni temi decisivi nell'attuale dibattito teorico. Ogni numero è pensato come capitolo di un atlante della cultura visuale contemporanea. Zona Critica intende interrogare criticamente i modi e le forme del presente, inteso come spazio fluido e, insieme, come labirinto attraversato da linguaggi e da pratiche artistiche diverse, capaci di restituire un ritratto mobile del nostro tempo.

It is the self-archived postprint version of the published paper, the final version of it can be found here: https://akjournals.com/view/journals/060/aop/article-10.1556-060.2024.00162/article-10.1556-060.2024.00162.xml
Abstract:
Štúdie zborníka na pomerne kompaktnej textovej ploche rozoberajú komplexné problémy a dotýkajú sa aktuálnych spoločenských výziev v širších interdisciplinárnych a časových súvislostiach. Zborník nielen otvára viaceré otázky ohľadom „ovládnutia“ prírody človekom, ale je inšpiratívny aj z metodologického hľadiska – na obrazy krajiny sa nazerá z pohľadu najrozličnejších disciplín  (od onomastiky, frazeológie cez pragmatiku, korpusovú lingvistiku alebo etnolingvistiku) a metód (komparácia, diskurzná analýza alebo štatistická metóda). Za pozornosť stojí nielen sledovanie paralel a rozdielov obrazov krajiny v stredoeurópskych jazykoch a literatúrach, ale aj načrtnutie potenciálu ďalšieho výskumu z pozícií ekokritiky, vďaka čomu sa preskúmaná problematika môže zapojiť do aktuálneho svetového vedeckého diskurzu.

The topic of this paper gravitates around the Versöhnungskirche (Reconciliation Church) in Berlin and its processes of signification in the landscape of its historical evolutions. In the first part of the article (§1), I will briefly describe the historical environment of the Church in the Mitte neighbourhood. The vicissitudes of the building Church gain our interest during the second world war, because of its position right on the border in between East and West Berlin. As the wall was built, its community was separated from the Church, its bell tower converted to a watch tower. As the Cold War sprung, the building Church was destroyed, being considered bulky and useless for the control practises of the two sectors of the City. The Wall, famously dismantled in 1989, left behind a lively debate about the possibility of building of a Berlin Wall Memorial, which naturally would have included the St. Sophie parish. The community was torn apart. Although it initially wanted to destroy what remains of the Wall, after some years, the community was to become one of the strongest voices advocating for the creation of a Wall Memorial in Bernauer Straße. The Chapel (the Versöhnungskapelle) was part of an intervention rebuilt in this trauma site rightfully regaining its space in the Berlin Wall Memorial. In this article I will summarize the debate about the re-semantization of this “difficult, uncomfortable and dissonant heritage” (§1.1). I will then proceed to, in the second part, investigate the role of the Chapel in the semiosphere and in the history of community living it. My analysis method will be based on cultural semiotics starting from a lotmanian imprinting. What the results of my work lead me to believe is that the building of the Wall has been felt by the Sophien community as the “explosion” of its culture, so much as the arrangement of its spaces has been seen as an “implosion” (§2). In the third section, I will examine the politics of memory subtended by this new building, focusing especially on some of its architectural choices, not forgetting the role of space: the parvis, the wall of the chapel, the facade, the ambulacrum, the nave, and the niche of the cross in the presbytery, all these elements gain their full meaning solely considered under the light of reconstruction. In this part I will use some conceptual instruments which come from the interpretative semiotics, taking the most out of its theory of signs (§3). In the fourth and last part of my contribution, I will underline the critical semiotic role of the sound. In fact, the “Reconciliation” effect would not be as powerful as it is without the intervention of the music dimension: to better understand this concept, I will be underlining the political elements recalled by the Church’s organ and its spatial articulation. Finally, I will analyse the solutions adopted regarding the construction of the bell tower, rich in historical meaning, which resulted in a new horizontal orientation of the outside of the chapel.

In recent years, the approaches of city marketing - as a set of strategies
aimed at planning the management, promotion and development of the at-
tractiveness of a city - has become more and more widespread. But urban identity is not always univocal and coherent, in particular for larger urban centers, but polyphonic, and calls into question different voices or features present in the area. Among others, music, or memory of musical heritage, is often used as one of the identity keys for many urban realities in Italy and in many foreign countries (Liverpool, Vienna, Chicago, Detroit). The case of Bologna and Strada del jazz is particularly interesting. It is a fairly recent construction of identity, an initiative born in 2011, but linked in fact to a tradition of interest in the musical genre that dates back to the postwar period.

La lista de películas ambientadas en la capital italiana es inmensa. El interés de contrastar a Moretti (Caro Diario, 1993) con Sorrentino (La grande bellezza, 2013) radica en el diferente enfoque que ofrecen del paisaje urbano, de las diferentes partes que muestran más que de las transformaciones urbanísticas. Son dos cineastas enamorados de la ciudad, Moretti elige una deriva montado en una vespa a través de los barrios populares del extrarradio. Sorrentino prefiere las poses de la alta sociedad, de la beautiful people en el centro monumental de Roma. Su protagonista es una especie de flâneur, vagando entre las mansiones y participando en fiestas exclusivas. Sin embargo, ambas historias muestran una Roma secreta y fascinante

There are many films located in Rome. Our especial interest was to revisit two different motion pictures about Rome, Caro Diario (1993) by Nanni Moretti, and La grande bellezza (2013) by Paolo Sorrentino, in order to highlight two different points of view and two different parts of Rome to focus on much more than the urban transformations throughout time. Both directors are really in love with Rome, Moretti chooses a so-called derive riding a vespa across popular neighbourhoods in the fringe of the city. Sorrentino prefers high-standing poses by beautiful people and monumental landscapes in the centre of Rome. His main character is such a flâneur, hanging around manor houses and participating in exclusive parties. However, both stories show a secret and fascinating Rome.

La metodologia di ricerca utilizzata per redigere il presente elaborato si è basata, in primo luogo, su un approccio diretto in situ a Parigi, con un’osservazione e analisi qualitativa dei graffiti di Belleville ed un’indagine dello spazio urbano. Dunque, una prima fase di indagine che si è sviluppata con un’esperienza diretta con l’ambiente artistico e culturale di Belleville, anche attraverso una relazione in prima persona con gli artisti che frequentano il quartiere.
In secondo luogo, si è reso necessario lo studio e l’analisi di varie fonti di informazioni, tra cui documenti, testimonianze e pubblicazioni, nonché la partecipazione a mostre, conferenze, laboratori e dibattiti che hanno consentito di ottenere materiale inedito e utile per approfondire la mia ricerca.
Partendo dallo studio degli scritti di Guy Debord l’indagine verterà sull’idea di provocazione e sulla percezione degli spazi urbani proposti dal Movimento internazionale situazionista. Quest’ultimo, con il fine di emanciparsi da una rappresentazione illusoria del mondo forgiata dai media e dalle immagini, propone una rilettura e riappropriazione della città mediante un approccio sensibile, portando alla luce le identità psicogeografiche dello spazio urbano. Nel dettaglio, l’indagine si concentrerà sulle analogie tra il concetto di détournement situazionista e il fenomeno del graffitismo nella street art a Parigi, in quanto, in entrambi i casi, il détournement si manifesta attraverso la volontà degli attori di annullare la funzione preesistente degli elementi estetici al fine di attribuirne agli stessi una nuova. In questo contesto il fenomeno della street art non viene indagato attribuendogli una valenza estetica, ma come fenomeno esperenziale perché in particolare i graffiti si esprimono come un atteggiamento e un pensiero sotterraneo: un’«arte che rosicchia il suo ambiente e le strutture di potere per intromettersi dove non lo si aspetta né lo si desidera: un parassita necessario all'ecologia della creazione»1.
Il caso studio è rappresentato dal quartiere di Belleville nel XX arrondissement di Parigi, un distretto multiculturale e di fermento sociale, che cela un notevole potenziale artistico. Il quartiere, oltre agli ateliers degli artisti ed alle numerose associazioni culturali, si contraddistingue come cuore dell’arte urbana parigina. A Belleville l’onda della street art si è generata e progredisce spontaneamente nel
tessuto sociale del quartiere, essendo perfettamente integrata con il suo contesto urbano, così da appropriarsi dei suoi muri, strade e spazi sociali, coinvolgendo i suoi abitanti e fondendosi con le diverse anime culturali che lo abitano. Camminando per le «strade piene di insegne che escono dalle mura» di Belleville «l'occhio non vede cose ma figure di cose che significano altre cose»

This publication is intended to inform research, practice, and public discussions on the role of surfaces in urban environments.

The publication is the result of the first international workshop of the Urban Surfaces Research Network (USRN), established in 2023 by Sabina Andron, Konstantinos Avramidis, and Tom Ward.

The USRN brings together researchers, practitioners, and policy makers, to examine the roles and uses of urban surfaces, and their contribution to the formation of urban cultures, politics, and atmospheres. It is a multidisciplinary group held together by a shared empirical interest and a passion to untangle the affordances of surfaces for citizenship, belonging, media, economy, law, and justice - the list continues.

USRN Vol 1 contributors: Sabina Andron ( University of Melbourne), Katya Assaf-Zakharov & Tim Schnetgöke (Hebrew University of Jerusalem), Konstantinos Avramidis ( University of Cyprus), Peter Bengtsen ( Lund University), Andrea Brighenti (University of Trento), Maria Chatzidakis ( University of West Attica), Anne Cronin ( Lancaster Universit), Eduardo de la Fuente (University of South Australia), Kurt Iveson (University of Sydney), David Pontille (Mines Paris - PSL), and Tom Ward ( Uppsala University).

Each contributor addresses the following prompts:

1. Share a definition of urban surfaces pertinent to their discipline and field of research or practice.

2. Propose three concepts for advancing urban surfaces knowledge.

3. Introduce an example or case study of their surface-related work.

We hope you enjoy your journey through these incredibly wide-ranging responses and share our enthusiasm for the work that lies ahead.

A discussion about the role of urban surfaces in developing public cultures and equitable cities. Participants in these Surface Conversations were asked to address three prompts, which you will find in the following pages:
1. Share a definition of urban surfaces pertinent to their discipline and field of research or practice.
2. Propose three concepts for advancing urban surfaces knowledge.
3. Introduce an example or case study of their surface-related work.
This publication is intended to inform research, practice, and public discussions on the role of surfaces in urban environments. We hope you enjoy your journey through these incredibly wide-ranging responses and share our enthusiasm for the traction of surface knowledges in the series.
Sabina Andron, University of Melbourne
Konstantinos Avramidis, University of Cyprus
Tom Ward, Uppsala University